The new value-added services (e.g., 700 number, 800 number and 900 number services) are designed for mass calling to a service provider (sponsor) number with the calling party generally paying for the call. These 900 number services (e.g., DIAL-IT.RTM. 900-service offered by American Telephone and Telegraph Co.-AT&T) allow sponsors to offer a variety of value-added telecommunication services (Dial-A-Prayer, Televoting, etc.), to their clientele for which additional charges are assessed. To access the service, the clientele (callers) dial, illustratively, a 900-NXX-XXXX number and are routed to a Carrier Switch Network (CSN) Mass Announcement System (MAS) where the callers listen to the sponsor's prerecorded announcement. At present, the sponsors select the rate callers will pay for the service when the 900 number is assigned by the CSN. The 900 number and the rate selected by a sponsor are stored in a table in a CSN billing system. When a call is made to a sponsor's 900 number, the central office switch in the Local Exchange Company (LEC) makes a call record including the calling and called party of each call. These call records are transported periodically (typically every month) from the LEC to the CSN, and rated using the appropriate sponsor's rate table. This rating process involves a table look-up process to determine each caller's charge for a call to a particular sponsor's number. The resulting caller charge records are then returned to the LEC which includes the charges as part of the callers' monthly bill.
New CSN services now provide the sponsor more flexibility in defining their services by routing the value-added calls to a sponsor-selected location. One such service is the MultiQuest.RTM. telecommunications service offered by AT&T. These new services enable a sponsor to provide a greater variety of value-added services which may now include interactive dialog between the caller and the sponsor's agent. There is a continuing need for the CSN to add more flexible billing for these sponsor-provided value-added services.